Modifying a Walthers Horizon car to operate on narrower radii

To operate my models from time to time i have a small oval of track with roco R3 (52 cm diameter) curves. When i tried to run a passenger train the walthers horizon coach in the consist derailed everytime. The problem was recognized very fast: When the truck moves out in the curve, the truckframe hits the damper and spring assembly which is attached to the underbody of the car. The solution i found is very simple and needs just 10 minutes of time. With an x-acto nife, i cut away the damper and spring assembly from the underbody. You must work with much caution not o dammage the assembly. After i removed all the 4 assemblies i glued them on the truck frame leaving a small slit between the assembly and the car body shell. Now, the damper and spring assembly moves out with the trucks. The trucks can move a bit wider then before and can now operate also on this small Roco R3 radius.

The car nearly looks like before, just the damper and spring assemblies sits a bit more wider inside.

It may now run on the track, but will ALWAYS look wrong. Wiser to stick with freight.

Function is more important than optic for me…

And from one or two meters away, you can´t see any difference…

I agree. Better to modify it to run otherwise it just sits in the box.

Enjoy
Paul